food…time?

[Briana C.]

As some of you may know I have two outdoor bunnies, male and female, neither are altered but they are separate. I really wish they could be indoors and I would if my parents would let me but for now I just can’t. I am soon going make an appointment to get the male neutered when I have a free weekend. The female is too young for now. SOOO now that you have some back groung a bout me  (every rime I make a post those questions are asked )  Well, I have been reading posts and most people have a specific time to feed their bunnies. I just have a food hopper that is kept full. Is food time a better idea of should I keep it stocked?

[BunnyLiz]

Food time is a better idea, gravity feeders arent good for adult bunnies, they should only get a limited amount of pellets a day or they will become overweight. Do they get veggies? They should have times for greens, but the young female could have pellets all day. Hay should be available all through the entire day though. My routine is breakfast of veggies at 7am, lunch of pellets at 3pm, dinner of veggies at 11pm. And Hammer gets mad if im ever late for a meal!

[Beka27]

Very few people can successfully free-feed pellets b/c buns will eat (and eat and eat) them and not eat their hay/veggies. It’s best to find a schedule that works for you and try to feed around those times everyday. I do veggies in the morning, a limited amount of pellets (1/2 cup for two buns) in the evening and they have hay and fresh water always. If you reduce the amount of pellets… hay, veggie and water consumption will increase and the buns will be healthier.

[Briana C.]

Okay I just didn’t know if it mattered or not. But my bunnies never have trouble eating veggies they are more like a treat, they get veggies or fruits about every other day, and I thought the hay wasn’t nessisary if you had enough vegstables. So basically I should feed them each 1/4 a cup pellets unlimited timothy hay, and how much veggies? and are veggies a sub. for hay?

[BunnyLiz]

Id check out the diet info under the green bunny info tab above. Hay is the most important thing in the diet and should always be available. Veggies are not a sub for hay, but they should get about 2 cups of veggies a day, but that depends on the size of the bunnies. The amount of pellets depend on the age and size as well.

[MooBunnay]

I agree about keeping the bunnies on a good feeding schedule. Rabbits are very routine animals and appreciate having a good schedule that they can rely on. Veg cannot be a substitute for hay, if you feed more veggies than hay you will find that their poop gets very soft and squishy, and they will be more likely to get stasis because they do not have adequate fiber in their diet to keep their stomach moving everything through.

[Beka27]

I like this pic b/c it actually SHOWS what the diet should consist of.  You know how a food pyramid works… the base of the pyramid is what you should have the most of, with amounts getting smaller as you go up the pyramid…  My only issue with this is that carrots are shown as “veggies” whereas they should probably be listed with the fruit/treats b/c they are too high in sugar to be fed regularly.

Diet in the simplest terms, from most important to least:

Timothy hay:  unlimited, always available, 24/7/365

Veggies (green, leafy): 2 cups per bun PER DAY, fed every day

Timothy-based Pellets: 1/4 cup per 5 lbs of bunny, per day

Fruit, treats:  very limited amounts, not fed everyday

SOURCE:  http://www.fosterbunnies.com/food.htm

[3crazybuns]

That is a good pyramid, it does show the carrot in the veggies, but it does say to limit those high in sugar or calcium. which that would be carrot and spinach. Hay is an absolute MUST, and veggies are not a sub. Good quality hay is important too, such as oxbow or Zupreem. As well as a good quality timothy based pellet. Also look for Oxbow or Zupreem. My buns are on schedule as well, and I find that very important. Oreo is a goobler, so I feed him about 3 times a day, he gets 2 cups of greens total, 1 cup in the morning, pellet in the afternoon with some veggies, and 1 cup of greens in the evening, around dinner time. He only gets 1/2 cup of pellet (he’s about 10 lbs) and Unlimited hay. Oliver is 10 weeks old, he gets about 2 leafs of green leaf lettuce (NO ICEBURG EVER!!!) and unlimited pellet and hay. Definately check out of the information located here on the sight under “bunny info” and under diet, there’s a diet for old buns over a year, and younger buns under 1 year. Best of luck!

[Briana C.]

I have some diet reconstruciton to do! I will be glad to do those things. I will probably, at least at first pay for my rabbits new diet because They will probably say “Your old rabbit has lived of of what we have for years and is doing fine” I know my parents sound like jerks, they are awesome but honestly are pretty much idiots when it comes to PROPER care of animals let alone SPOILING animals (me: if my parents didn’t get in the way of me & the pets I would have the most rotten animals on the planet) but it will all work out hopefully. Is there a way to buy like that hay in bulk, but reasonably priced, those little bags seem like nothing! When we first got Greyson we fed him hay and pellets, then I started giving him veggies too my parents said he just needed one or the other and we just quit buying hay. I am soon going to be able to get Jenna out so much easier I am making a sort of extention to her “second story” to her rabbit cage that will allow her to hop right into my lap, thus avoiding the MAJOR stress of me picking her up. We are going to get a big hutch for the both of them to live in after they are spayed and neutered and bonded

[Briana C.]

Today I fed them a good meal I havent had a chance to buy hay yet but I chopped: Carrots, radish tops, a little bit of romaine lettuce, and the big stalks of BROCCOLI (just the stalks). I made 2 cups per rabbit, But I only so far have gave them one cup just to keep the rest of it fresh. I didn’t give them pellets, becuse I wanted them to at least try the veggies first then I will give them pellets. THey didn’t seem to thrilled. But afer a second they started eating carrot bits. I think my mom is very happy that I can use the typically unused parts of vegstables. I need like a feeding trough for the veggies it wouldn’t be too hard to make one with some wood (my dad likes building little things) just a little rectangular shape to contain it. I will check out there in a little bit to see how their progress in the pile of veggies is then I will give them pellets and a bit after that, if they seem interested more veggies and a little peice of banana.

[Adalaide]

Ok, so I went to PetSmart today to get some extra supplies. I found out that they are the only place that has Oxbow hay although they have the world’s smallest bags ever. They also have Kaytee hay. I saw someone recommend Kaytee Rainbow pellets or something like that, don’t remember exactly (I got the Oxbow ones, they matched the nutrition info more closely) and am wondering if there’s a reason to use Oxbow over Kaytee hay. The vet also said that meadow hay is as good as timothy and even recommended it instead. Any opinions on that? She’s very bunny smart and covered most mistakes without me even asking.

[3crazybuns]

Well, it sounds like your off to the right start, the only thing I will tell you about the diet is I would cut out the celery, and only give 1 baby carrot day, I know they are on the veggie list, but at the same time they are high in sugar. Give more leafy greens!!! I prefer Oxbow over Kaytee because I’ve had a few bad experiences with Kaytee, I started with that, and it wasn’t near as fresh, and I’ve found several STICKS in the hay, and twigs. See if your parents will Order from Binkybunny.com store, it looks expensive and at first you will think WOW, this is small, but you really get alot of bang for your buck with their hay, and its SUPER fresh, and my buns LOVE it! GOOD LUCK!

[Adalaide]

I’ve been checking out the oxbow site and they have 3 recommended online stores. They all ship the hay up to 50 lb but some charge mroe than others. One of them I found I can get it for probably about $60 where another is just over $100. I know that sounds really expensive, but just think about how much hay that really is. I pay $5 for a 15 ouce bag at the pet store, by buying online, even with shipping and even if you pay $100 for it you’re still saving over $150. That’s a great deal, and it comes to you rather than going to get it.

[Briana C.]

SOrry!! I said celery but i meant broccoli!! just cut off the part humans dont eat cand gave it to them, i was just trying to see wwhat they might eat.

[Author]

Messages